The rules have changed
by Hecate28
Summary: What happens when the rules change? What happens when the only witness to murder is playing her own game?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own no rights to Silent Witness or any other the characters. It all belongs to the BBC **

**Author's note: This is in no way connected to 'Stray' this is just an idea that came to me when I was listening to my 'Phantom of the opera' CD **

_Prologue _

"_Hello my pretty" the voice was there again, she tried to place the source of the voce but it was pitch black and her senses were blinded_

"_Who's a pretty girl" it hissed in her ear and she tried to resist the urge to vomit as the rising sick built in her throat. She shook her head wildly but this just made the voice cackle _

"_I'll always be here my pretty, and you'll never get rid of me. Wherever you go and whatever you do I'll be there and don't you forget it. Your brother tried to get rid of me and look what happened to him" the voice was teasing her now, toying with her mind _

"_I'm always here" the laughter was getting louder and it was almost deafening "I'm always watching you…" _

_The blackness crept over her again and she succumbed to it_

"_Let the games begin my pretty and remember the rules have changed…"_

"Doctor Alexander, home office pathologist" Nikki flashed her badge at the young police officer who nodded curtly and held up the cordon tape for her to duck under. She surveyed the scene she had entered; Nikki was standing in a fairly large park, there was a large white tent in the middle and around it were police officers running backwards and forwards.

"Bloody chaos isn't it" a voice came from her left and she turned to see a middle aged man in a suit sighing loudly "They just don't make officers like they used to. I'm Detective Tom Matthews" he introduced himself with a smile

"Nikki Alexander, forensic pathologist" she said

"You'll be wanting to see the body" he said motioning towards the tent "It's not a pretty sight I can tell you that"

"I'm sure I'll cope" she smiled

"Rather you than me, I can hardly watch an episode of casualty without hiding behind the sofa" he said sheepishly

"And yet you join the murder squad" she teased, Nikki liked this detective, he seemed kind enough and didn't have the attitude problem that half of the metropolitan police force seemed to have

"Touché" he smiled as they both grabbed plastic suits to cover themselves up before they entered

"So what happened here" Nikki said pulling the zip up on hers

"Early morning dog walkers found them…."

"…There's two" Nikki interrupted "But you said 'body' as in singular"

"There were two" Matthews nodded "The dog walker found the pair of them, a young girl and a boy, lying naked in the middle of the field, legs and arms bound. He called an ambulance and one was pronounced dead and the other one was barely alive. They've taken her to hospital but it's not looking good"

"Do we have any identification yet?" Nikki said grimacing at the tale of events she had just heard

Matthews shook his head "The girl was unconscious and neither of them had anything on them" he said as they made their way into the tent

Nikki winced when she saw the body; it was a young boy barely recognisable from the cuts and bruising all across his body. His neck was at a ninety degree angle and Nikki could see various points of trauma across his body. His bare skin was stained in his blood and she could see parts of bone breaking through the skin

"Poor lad" the detective sighed "The girl wasn't in a healthy state either. She was barely alive when the paramedics found her"

Nikki shook her head "Who could do something like this"

"Exactly the question we want to know" he sighed "There's something else you ought to see" he said leading her to the body

As Nikki drew closer she could see the dried blood on the boy's chest had actually formed to make a pattern

"What is that?" Nikki asked out loud, she crouched down and in a gloved hand examined the chest more closely. On closer inspection the chest had been burned and the crusted blood had congealed around the wound

"He's been branded" she said looking shocked, the detective nodded sadly "Memento mori" she read out loud

"How's your Latin?" he asked her but she shook her head "Memento mori" he said "Remember you will die…"

**Author's note: How's that for a first chapter? Should I carry on?**


	2. Chapter 2

Nikki scrubbed up as the body was wheeled into the morgue; she grimaced as she couldn't get the image of the branding out of her head. It was awful and abnormal and she couldn't understand how anyone could do that to a fellow human being

"They've finished prepping the body" Harry said coming up behind her

"Thanks" she said as she followed him into the cutting room where they were met by Detective Matthews

"I hope you have a strong stomach" Nikki told the detective who was turning a whiter a shade of pale

"The things I do to earn my pay check" he laughed weakly as Nikki began her examination of the body

"This is a young male, past puberty but still in his teenage years. There are deep lacerations on the limbs and there are ligature marks consistent with being tied up. There are also a number of open fractures to the limbs with obvious fractures to the neck. The chest has been branded as well" she said and Harry nodded

"Can you work out how long he's been dead?" Matthews asked weakly

"Rigamortis has set in" Nikki said as she tested the muscles in the body and found them to be stiff "So no longer than twenty-four to forty-eight hours"

Harry was examining the brand on the boy's chest "This is nasty" he sighed "It looks like it's been put on with something like a cattle brand"

Nikki nodded "Whoever did this is violent; the broken bones suggest force was used and the lacerations are all over the body and they are deep which suggests the attack doesn't seem very controlled"

Matthews nodded "The paramedics said the girl had similar injuries"

"Do they know her condition?" Nikki asked

"I checked with the hospital; she's gone into surgery, apparently there was a lot of internal bleeding….she had the same brand on her chest too"

Nikki sighed "How could someone do this?"

The two men in the room didn't seem to have an answer for her at all; they could only stare at the body and hope that they would find some justice

* * *

Nikki was at her desk later on that day examining some samples she had taken from the body

"Nikki?" she heard her name being called and she looked up to see Leo standing there with a worried look on his face

"Sorry I was miles away" she gave a weak smile which didn't quite reach her eyes

"I heard about your case" Leo said pulling up a stool and sitting down next to her

Nikki turned away from her samples and pushed a photograph in Leo's direction, he picked it up and saw the image of the brand on the boy's chest "Nasty" he grimaced

"It was before death" Nikki said quietly and Leo sighed

"Are you sure?"

She nodded "The congealed blood is a pretty good indicator; it matches up with the time of death"

"So he was tortured"

"It seems so" Nikki said sadly "He was bound up for a while, the ligature marks are quite deep. The lacerations wouldn't have been enough to kill him; he would have lost a huge amount of blood but would have been just about conscious"

"Poor lad" Leo said sadly

"I've sent off the bloods for analysis but it looks like it was a mixture of shock from the amount of blood loss and trauma to the rest of the body"

"The brand is unusual" Leo said studying the picture

"That's what I wanted to ask you about" Nikki said looking over Leo's shoulder at the picture

"Well whoever did this is trying to communicate something" Leo said and Nikki nodded "Latin is an unusual language to use in this day and age. It might suggest something about our killer…"

"There's something wrong about this whole thing through" Nikki frowned

"What's that?" Leo cocked his head on one side

"There's a real lack of defence wounds. I know he was tied up but surely you would struggle and try anything to get away…"

Leo nodded "It is curious I'll give you that. Do they have identification yet?"

"No. They're checking missing persons to see if anyone matches the description"

"There was a girl as well wasn't there?" Leo asked

"She's in hospital. Her injuries were just as bad…" Nikki sighed loudly "Leo I don't understand it. How can two teenagers just disappear and then turn up later with signs of them being tortured. It's just not right"

"There's a lot not right about this case Nikki" Leo told her "I just hope that we can put the pieces together before anyone else gets hurt"

**Author's note: Sorry I know the chapters are short. But I'm trying not to overcomplicate things and throw lots of details in at once**


	3. Chapter 3

"We've worked out who the boy is" Matthews ran into the lab looking slightly breathless

"Who is he?" Nikki asked but the detective held up his hand to halt her questions whilst he got his breath back

"I'm not as young as I used to be" he groaned "We got a match through missing persons, they boy you've got here is one James North, aged sixteen. He went missing about two weeks ago after a family argument. The parents reported his missing but nothing was heard of since"

"I've heard nothing on the news" Nikki said frowning

Matthew shook his head "The parents thought he'd gone off too stay with friends for a bit to cool off, apparently it's not unusual behaviour"

"Have the parents been informed?" Nikki asked

He nodded "They're coming down as we speak. The other interesting thing is that when James went missing so did his sister, Rosie North also sixteen"

"They're twins?" she enquired

Matthews nodded again "And I bet you any money that the girl found with him was Rosie. We haven't done a formal identification yet but the photo the parents gave us when the two first went missing is pretty conclusive"

"Oh God…" Nikki sighed "The poor parents"

"It's not all bad news, the girl is out of surgery now" Matthews told the pathologist "She's stable and the doctor thinks she'll pull through"

"Doctor Alexander?" a lab technician called to Nikki "There's a Mr and Mrs North waiting for you outside"

"Thank you Jane" Nikki nodded her thanks to the technician

"Are you ready?" Matthews asked her as they walked out of the room, Nikki shrugged "I've been in this job twenty years and it never gets better"

The two of them walked into another room where they saw a pale faced couple sitting close together

"Mr and Mrs North?" Nikki asked as she held out her hand "I'm Doctor Nikki Alexander and I'll be taking you through to identify the body"

"Please call me Jack" the man stood up and Nikki could see the pain on his face "This is my wife Margret"

Nikki nodded and led the couple down the corridor to indentify the body. They stopped outside a glass window and Nikki could see Harry inside waiting to uncover the body

"Whenever you're ready" Nikki told them gently

"All we need is a yes or no" Matthews said

"We're ready" Mr North told them

Nikki nodded to Harry who gently peeled back the covering the was concealing the body; Mrs North let out a wail and fell into her husbands arms. Nikki turned to Mr North and saw he had tears streaming down his face

"I'm sorry to ask…" Nikki started

Mr North cleared his throat and in a shaky voice said "Yes, that's him, that's our son" his voice broke on the last word and so did Nikki's heart

* * *

"It was awful" Nikki said flopping down in one of the chair in Leo's office "I mean I've done it hundreds of times before but how can you tell two people that not only is there son dead but he was tortured as well"

"Well you've done it now and it was best they knew about it" Leo said gently "Do they know about their daughter?"

Nikki nodded "Detective Matthews has taken them down to the hospital. He called me a few minutes ago, it is their daughter Rosie"

"That poor family" Leo sighed

"I feel for Rosie" Nikki said "Goodness knows what state she'll be in when she wakes up"

At that moment Harry stuck his head around the door "Hey" he gave Nikki a small smile "Are you okay?"

"Yes…" she said and then shook her head "…No, not really"

"Nikki, that had to be done and I know it's awful but at least they know now. And now we know who he is we can do all we can to bring justice and closure to the family"

"I need a drink" Nikki said running her hands through her hair as she stood up

"That's the best thing you've said all day" Leo said standing up and picking up his jacket "I'll buy the first round"

"Leo you are getting generous in your old age" Harry teased and he was sure he saw a small smile appear on Nikki's face

* * *

Meanwhile in a closed off room in a hospital in London Detective Matthews was trying his hardest to console the North parents

"I should never have shouted at him" Mrs North was sobbing into her husband's chest

"I'm sorry to have to do this but I will need to question you both later" Matthews said choosing his words carefully "And of course Rosie when she wakes up"

"If she wakes up" Mrs North mumbled

"Margret" Mr North said loudly "Don't say things like that"

Mrs North pulled away from her husband's chest "Jack, would it be such a bad thing…?"

"This is the grief talking" Mr North shook his head

His wife shook her head "She changed the rules jack, she changed the rules" Mrs North buried her head back in Jack's chest leaving a very confused Detective Matthews to stand alone watching the frail young girl in the bed. Suddenly the monitors she was hooked up to went wild. Mr North stood up in shock started calling his daughters name but Mrs North just stood up with no expression on her face and walked out of the room leaving only Detective Matthews and Mr North alone not knowing what was happening.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Detective Matthews was in the lab relaying the previous night's events to the three pathologists

"…and so the doctor took Rosie off the ventilator, he said she'd been trying to breathe on her own and that's why the machines had started going berserk"

"That's a good sign though" Nikki nodded "She's recovering"

"The doctor thinks she should wake up sometime today" Matthews told them "We're going to have to interview her as well" he sighed "There's just something not right about this case"

"I know what you mean" Harry nodded

"Two teenagers are missing for weeks but the parents don't do anything. I can understand the kids going to cool off for a couple of days but surely if you hadn't heard anything for two weeks then you'd get slightly worried" the detective shook his head "And the mother as well, she was so calm when I was in the hospital with them last night and she made some comment about how it wouldn't be such a bad thing if Rosie didn't wake up"

"It might just be the grief talking" Leo said

"Mr North is coming down here this morning" Matthews told the team "I understand you need a DN sample"

Leo nodded "And we need to discuss what happened to his son"

"Is Mrs North not coming?" Harry asked

The detective shook his head "Apparently she's not in any state to talk to anyone, she's with a family liaison officer at the moment which might be of some use"

Harry and Leo nodded as they set about their separate tasks for that morning leaving Nikki and Matthews alone. Nikki groaned and put her head in her hands

"A little too much last night was it?" Matthews asked noticing Nikki's delicate state that morning

"It never used to be this bad a couple of years ago" Nikki winced

The detective gave a gentle laugh "Wait till you get to my age, you'll hardly be able to get out of bed in the morning after one pint"

"I look forward to it" Nikki groaned and put her head back down on the table

* * *

Later that morning Mr North had arrived at the lab and was taken to Leo's office along with Detective Matthews so they could talk privately

"How is Rosie?" Leo asked as they took their seats

"She's making progress; the doctor thinks she'll wake up soon. He says she's a little fighter and kept hanging on in there when they operated on her" Mr North gave a weak laugh "That's typical Rosie for you, stubborn as ever"

"We need to talk to you about James" Leo said choosing his words carefully so as not to cause an unnecessary upset "His injuries were a little unusual to say that least…"

"He was tied up and beaten" Mr North frowned "Is that so unusual…"

Leo pushed a photograph in his direction "This was present on both your children"

Mr North studied the picture and grimaced "Is this a…brand?" Leo nodded sadly "What does it say?" he asked

"It's a Latin phrase" Matthews said "It means remember you will die"

Mr North put his head in his hands and both Leo and Matthews could see that his whole body was convulsing with the pain that wracked through his body

"I'm so sorry to have to tell you this…" Detective Matthews said gently and Mr North looked up as he tried to compose himself "But we are going to have to get social services involved. It's protocol in these situations where children have been found at risk ad we are going to need a DNA sample from both you and your wife to rule out any samples we take from your son"

Mr North nodded sadly "I understand" he said simply "Is there a chance we could loose Rosie?" he asked

The detective paused "That's for social services to decide, right now the main concern is finding out who did this to your son and getting Rosie better" he said shortly and Mr North nodded again but both could see that the detectives words had shaken him to the core

* * *

"Hey" Harry said sitting down next to Nikki who was peering through a microscope analysing some samples

"Hey yourself" she said looking up and rubbing her eyes

"I brought you this" he said setting down a glass and a couple of tablets of aspirin next to her

"I love you" she said and then blushed when she realised how that had come out "In the way that friends love each other"

"Of course" Harry agreed "Because that's all we are, just friends"

"Yes just friends" Nikki said and Harry cleared his throat

"The police dropped these in earlier" he said handing her a pile of photographs "They've taken pictures of Rosie's injuries, we're meant to see if there are any similarities or differences between the twins injuries"

Nikki nodded and took the photos from Harry trying to ignore the tingling feeling she got when her hand brushed against Harry. However that feeling was soon replaced by sadness when she looked down at the photos

"The poor girl" she grimaced as she looked at the bruised and beaten girl in the pictures "Who could do such a thing?"

And that was a question that Harry had no answer for

* * *

The hospital room was filled with the gentle beeping of machines and it was this that greeted Rosie North when she woke up. She groaned as she felt pain surge through her body. She couldn't work out where she was at first

"Just relax" a voice came from above her and she saw a doctor standing in the room next to her bed "Welcome back" he gave her a gentle smile

It was at that point Rosie began to scream.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: There's a little bit of swearing on this chapter just to warn you**

"It took us a while to calm her down" the doctor told the group as they waited outside the private room

Nikki, Detective Matthews and Mr and Mrs North were waiting outside Rosie's hospital room. They had been called earlier that day to let them know that Rosie had regained consciousness and they had immediately rushed down to the hospital

"But she's okay now?" Mr North asked

The doctor nodded "She's still very weak so please don't put her under any pressure" he opened the door and let the group in, however Mrs North lingered, not going anywhere near her daughter.

"Hello Rosie" Detective Matthews pulled up a chair next to Rosie's bed and sat down "I'm and I'm a police officer and this is Doctor Alexander she's a pathologist"

Nikki gave a gentle smile to the pale looking girl. The impact of her injuries was evident on Rosie; she had numerous cuts and bruises scattered across her face and her arms were covered with dressings that Nikki assumed covered the ligature marks. She could see the lumpy outline of Rosie's bandaged stomach pressing against the bedclothes. However none of these injuries were as horrible as they cold and lost look that was in Rosie's eyes. They didn't show any emotion they just seemed to be blank and weren't fixing on anything

"Now I'm so sorry to have to tell you this but your brother James is dead"

Rosie made no movement for a few minutes and the adults in the room waited with baited breath.

Suddenly she turned to her parents "Get out" she snarled and everyone jumped at this sudden display f anger

"Rosie…" Mr North began

"GET OUT!" Rosie yelled in a very loud voice for such a small girl

"Rose calm down" the detective warned her, she turned to him and let out a stream of expletives which shocked the poor man

The North parents sighed as they left the room and Nikki was surprised at their reaction; they didn't seem upset but just seemed to be accepting their daughter's hostility

"Rosie" the detective tired again and the girl turned towards him and he could see the anger in her eyes "I am very sorry about your brother but there is no call for this behaviour. We're just trying to help"

"Piss off" Rosie muttered and turned away from them

"Listen to me" Matthews said "We need your help Rosie; we need to know who did this to you and your brother. Will you help us?"

She turned back to them and they could see her lip her curled up "Why should I help you?" she snarled

"Don't you want to catch whoever did this?"

"She changed the rules" Rosie said "She changed the bloody rules" and after that they could get no more from her

* * *

"I'm sorry about Rosie" Mr North apologised after Nikki and Detective Matthews had excited the room leaving a livid Rosie to stew in her own anger

The detective shook his head "She's been through a traumatic experience and it's quite usual for someone to go through emotional outburst like that"

Mr North gave a weak laugh "I wish" he sighed "What you saw in there was Rosie as she normally is"

Nikki and Matthews looked at each other in shock "You mean she's usually that angry?" he asked Mr North who nodded sadly

"How do you think I got these?" he rolled up his sleeve and Nikki could see his arm was covered in scars

"She did that?" The detective asked looking as shocked as Nikki felt

Mr North nodded "Rosie has some behavioural problems" he said quietly

"That's putting it lightly" Mrs North spat finally breaking her silence "It's just a shame it's James that's lying in the morgue"

"Margret!" Mr North sighed "Please, my wife is just overcome with grief…"

"I understand" the detective nodded sympathetically although he wasn't entirely convinced

Mr North nodded sadly and led his wife away down the corridor, when they were far enough away Detective Matthews turned to Nikki who was stunned into silence

"Now that I wasn't expecting" he said rubbing his temples "First the mother then the daughter, there's something not right with this family"

"You're telling me" Nikki let out a long sigh

"I hate to say it but I think we have another suspect in the murder enquiry"

Nikki looked up at him horrified "You can't mean Rosie?"

"We cant ignore her violent temperament" The detective argued "I don't want to have to have her as a suspect but they fact she's unwilling to cooperate and her temper, well it's not right. This girl has something to hide and she's clearly determined to play by her own rule book not matter what the consequences"


	6. Chapter 6

Mr and Mrs North were sat in a police interview room waiting for Detective Matthews to come and speak to them

"Margret?" Mr North looked at his wife who hadn't said a word since they had left the hospital "It will be okay, the doctor said Rosie will be out of hospital in a week or so…"

"…Do you think I care about Rosie?" Mrs North snapped "My _son_ is dead" she cried

"And your _daughter_ is in hospital" Mr North sighed "Our little girl almost died"

"Our son did die" Mrs North retorted and then fell silent as Detective Matthews entered the room

"Not interrupting anything am I?" he asked although both knew he had overheard their conversation. Mr North shook his head and Detective Matthews sat down

"I need to ask you some questions about Rosie and James" the detective said picking up a notepad to take notes "You said they went missing two weeks ago?"

Mr North nodded "We had a family row. Well it was more with Rosie than James but when she walked out so did he"

The detective nodded "Were they close?"

"Incredibly" was the response from the father

"What was the argument about?" Matthews asked

Mr North paused and looked at his wife; an action that didn't go unnoticed by the detective "Rosie has always had a short temper; she flies into a rage at anything. It's been getting worse over the last few years. We were just hoping it was a phase but it just got worse and worse"

"I see" Matthews scribbled a note down on a piece of paper "Did you ever consider seeking help?"

Mr North nodded "We tried getting her to go to a counsellor but that seemed to make things worse, she started going on about how her own parents didn't even understand her"

"That must have been difficult" Matthews said sympathetically although his mind was working to try and piece together the puzzle "So what was the argument specifically about? Surely there was something that sparked Rosie's temper"

Mr North looked across at his wife for a second time "I'm not sure exactly, I came home from work to find the argument in full swing. Rosie was shouting at Margret and James was trying to get Rosie to calm down. I came through the door and tried to get everyone to calm down but Rosie just flew off the handle and ran out the door"

"Did she say anything before she left?"

Mr North closed his eyes for a second, clearly deep in thought, before responding "She said 'she changed the rules James'"

"She was speaking to her brother?" Mr North nodded and Matthews made a note on the pad "Did he say anything back to her?"

"All he said was 'I know', then Rosie ran out the door and James went after her"

"And you didn't think to follow?"

Mr North shook his head "When Rosie is in a temper it's best just to leave her to cool off for a bit"

"Two weeks?"

Mr North shook his head again "We thought that they'd just gone off with friends. We did get in touch with the police as a precautionary measure but we were certain they'd gone off to cool down"

"I see…" Matthews nodded "And after they left they didn't get in contact at all?"

"No" Came the short answer

"Did you phone round friends to see where they were?"

"Yes but we thought they were covering for Rosie and James pretending that they didn't know where they were so we couldn't find them"

"Mrs North?" Matthews addressed the woman in the room for the first time "Had Rosie and you had bad arguments like that before"

"Yes" the reply was almost whispered

"Would it be fair to say your relationship with your daughter was strained?"

Mrs North paused for a moment before turning to look directly at Detective Matthews "She is not my daughter" the reply was cold and said with spite

"I'm sorry" Matthews looked confused

"I never wanted twins. All I wanted my one precious little son but then they told me I was having a daughter as well. It was perfect when little James was born…" Mrs North's eyes lit up with compassion when she talked about her son "…But then Rosie came along and spoilt our happiness. Spiteful, mean little Rosie who was wrong from the beginning but James adored her. He always went along after her, Rosie was always manipulative from a young age, she could always wrap people round her little finger. She was always playing games with her own rule book. I tired to protect James but he wouldn't listen, he kept on following Rosie and now he's dead because of her" Mrs North fell silent again and Detective Matthews let out a breath e hadn't realised he'd been holding

"I think we'll leave it there" Matthews said standing up barely able to look at the woman's cold eyes. He closed the door behind him and walked down the corridor feeling numb after what he had just heard. He knew that there was going to be very little he could get from Mrs North, a woman who denied her daughters existence. He knew now that Rosie was the key to solving all of this but at that moment who didn't know who was the victim and who was the attacker, everyone seemed to be playing by their own rules and no one was playing fair.


	7. Chapter 7

Nikki and Detective Matthews were sitting in the lab huddled round Nikki's laptop both staring intently at the screen

"I hope we're not looking at anything naughty" Nikki looked up to see Harry standing behind them

"Harry Cunningham, what do you think of me?" she asked and then shook her head "On second thought don't answer that" and Harry laughed

"We found some CCTV footage of the twins" Detective Matthews said leaning backward so Harry could get a look at the screen "We pick them up just as they leave their house…."

Harry leant forward and saw on the screen two teenagers running away from the house; Rosie had a head start and was in front of James but he appeared to be faster than her and soon caught up with her

"It gets interesting about here" Matthews told the two pathologists

James had finally caught up with Rosie and had grabbed her by the arm to make her stop. There was a brief struggle with Rosie thrashing around to get James off her but to no avail. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity and Rosie slapped James hard around the face. Both recoiled and stood there for a moment clearly shocked at what had just occurred

"What a backhand!" Harry exclaimed

"Were there any bruises consistent with that struggle?"

Nikki paused for a moment "There were some lighter bruises; it's quite likely that Rosie could have done that. It didn't look like it was too hard but enough to stun him momentarily"

Back on the screen James had grabbed Rosie again and the two of them were standing close together, their foreheads touching. James was mouthing something to Rosie but she was shaking her head wildly. She broke away from his grasp once more and started off down the street again. James took off after her without a seconds thought. A few seconds later they had disappeared out of the cameras gaze

"Rosie seemed very distressed" Nikki said and the two men nodded

"You can see just how close they are" The detective "James took off after her straight away and he was trying to calm her down or something"

"Have you got anything after that?" Harry asked

Matthews shook his head "That's the best we've got. After that they seem to be just out of shot, nothing is very clear. We first see them on Church Street which is where the family home is and the last place we pick them up is Oakley Road which is…" Matthews did a quick calculation "…about forty minutes away from the house"

"And only five minutes from the park" Nikki nodded "I left my cat there when I was called to the scene"

"I hope you didn't double park" Matthews gave a gentle laugh trying to lighten the situation

"At the scene there didn't seem to be much blood so we can probably assume that the twins were dumped there but held and tortured somewhere else" Nikki said and the two men nodded

"It makes sense, the park is too open and public to torture someone and you would hear the screams" Harry said

Matthews sighed "James and Rosie are picked up on Church Street at five o'clock, the last time we see them it's on Oakley Road at twenty to six. They seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth for two weeks and then turn up two weeks later, naked and bound in the park which is in walking distance from the family home. We have two weeks that aren't accounted for. How can two teenagers just fall off the radar for two whole weeks?"

"Whoever held them must be local then" Harry said

Matthews nodded "People rarely kill outside their comfort zones. Whoever did this obviously knew where they could take two children and keep them hidden well out of view"

"There's a lack of defence wounds as well" Nikki commented "It might suggest they knew who it was…"

"Now there's a thought" The detective said looking up at Nikki "We've been thinking that it could have been paedophiles or child abductors but we've never looked at it as an internal family matter"

"Have Rosie given a witness statement?" Harry asked and Matthews shook his head "I'm taking one later today if I can keep her calm for long enough. I can see she gets her temper off her mother"

Nikki nodded as she remember what Matthews had told her about his interview with the North parents

"Doctor Alexander?" a lab technician entered the room and passed her a sheet of paper "The toxicology report has just come through for James North"

"Thank you Liz" Nikki smiled at the lab technician before turning her gaze back to the report "There's a large amount of sedative in James North's blood" she told the two men in the room

"That might help explain the lack of defence wounds as well" Harry said "If they were out of it then they wouldn't have been able to fight back"

"It might also explain how they got them to the park without much of a fight. There were no signs of a struggle at the scene" Matthews said making a note of what Nikki and Harry were telling him "One question though whose injuries were worse?"

Nikki looked at Harry and the two of them communicated silently before Nikki answered "They were both awful" she said "Rosie appeared to have more internal injuries but James had more external injuries. The photographs of Rosie's injuries aren't great but I can probably say that James died first and Rosie's injuries were done over a longer period of time" Matthews nodded

"You suspect the mother" Harry said and Matthews knew it was a statement and not a question

"I suspect everyone right now. Mrs North hates her daughter so she has motive for hurting Rosie but I can't see her killing her favourite child James. Rosie on the other hand has motive for killing James either out of rage or jealously or both but I can't see how she could have inflicted those injuries on herself. Mr North clearly loves both of his children but he seems to have turned a blind eye for his wife's animosity towards Rosie maybe he thought he could resolve the conflict by removing the problem; the children, maybe he went to teach them a lesson or scare them and it went too far. Everyone has a motive in this case but the own obvious witness we have right now is Rosie and goodness knows what games she's playing with us…"

**Author's note: Another chapter to make up for not updating yesterday**

**So who do you suspect? *****hint* I can tell you that it is a character you have already been introduced to. It won't just be someone I make up at the last minute **


	8. Chapter 8

Detective Matthews and Nikki were waiting in a hospital corridor later that evening, ready for another attempt to get a witness statement and a DNA sample from the young girl respectively

"Have you got any other DNA samples from the body?" Matthews asked Nikki referring James North

"It's complicated" Nikki explained "We've taken samples from James and matched them against any fibres or other samples we took against the samples we've taken from Mr and Mrs North"

"Did you get a match?" he asked

Nikki nodded "But they're a family, they live in close proximity, there's bound to be some transference of DNA from member to member. There's no way we can draw a definite conclusion. Any half decent lawyer would tear it to shreds in minutes in a courtroom"

Matthews sighed "So what we really need is Rosie to tell us what went on" and Nikki nodded as a doctor came up to the pair

"You can go in now" he gave a tired smile to the pair "She's still a little drowsy from the medication we've given her but she's okay to talk"

"How is she holding up otherwise" Matthews asked the medic

The doctor sighed "She's recovering from surgery as well as can be expected though she still is quite weak. We're slightly concerned about the head injury she has, primarily we were concerned about the internal bleeding but she seems very dazed and confused so we're keeping an eye on the head wound but I think the trauma of the situation is taking its toll now. Physical wounds will heal and fade but it's the mental ones which go much deeper. Still it doesn't help that's she's got no one to hold her hand through this"

"Her parents aren't here?" Nikki asked looking shocked

"No one's been to see her all day" the doctor informed them "Poor thing" he added sympathetically "She's been through so much and she's scared out of her wits. Its not wonder she's been so aggressive to everyone, she's terrified and there's no one there to reassure her"

Both Nikki and Matthews nodded sadly "Still she's in the best hands here" Matthews said "All she has to do now is heal"

The doctor nodded as he led them to her room and left them to enter. Matthews led the way, pushing the door open a crack so as to not to scare Rosie. Nikki surveyed Rosie as she followed Matthews into the room; Rosie was still hooked up to various monitors and there were fresh bandages covering her arms and she had a compression bandage wrapped around her head. She was still looking very pale and had an oxygen mask over her face. She blearily looked at them and acknowledged their presence; she tried to push herself up into the sitting position but winced as she pulled on the stitches, her abdomen still clearly tender from surgery.

"Hello Rosie" Matthews said as both himself and Nikki took a seat next to the bed "How are you feeling?"

"How do you think?" Rosie snapped though her anger was slightly diluted by the amount of medication in her system

"I'm sorry that was a stupid question wasn't it?"

"Too right" Rosie snapped turning away from the pair. She let out a small yelp as her stitches pulled once again and this didn't go unnoticed by Nikki or Matthews

Nikki stood up and helped the girl lie back down more comfortably on the bed, being careful not to touch the areas still tender from injury or to knock the drip from her arm. She placed the oxygen back on Rosie's face which had fallen off from the sudden movement and Rosie took deep breaths into it. As Nikki sat down she was sure she saw some gratitude flicker across the young girl's face

"Now Rosie all we want to do is talk…" Matthews began

"…I don't want to talk; I just want to be left alone!" Rosie cut in and it seemed the anger was giving way to grief and sorrow

"I know you do" Matthews soothed "But we want to find out who did this to you and your brother. Surely your brother would have wanted you to help us"

"You didn't know him!" Rosie said her voice breaking with emotion

"Then tell us about him" Nikki said softly "Who's older?"

"James is" Rosie said trying to fight back the tears "By ten minutes, not that he ever let me forget it" she said and this time Nikki was sure she saw a small smile as the girl remembered her sibling

"Did James look after you?" Matthews asked pleased that they were making some headway with the girl

Rosie nodded "He always knew how to cheer me up or calm me down. I used to resent sometimes how he was able to work out my feelings without me even having to say anything to him. What I really hated was the fact I saw so much of myself in him. He was myself than I am"

"So will you help us?" Matthews asked cautiously

"No" Rosie said shortly fiddling with the bed covers

"Why not?" came the question from Matthews

"I don't know who to trust anymore" Rosie said looking up at the pair and Nikki could see tears forming in the young girl's eyes "She changed the rules and now I don't know who to trust"

"Who did?" Matthews asked "Who changed the rules Rosie?"

"I can't say" Rosie shook her head

"Please Rosie" Matthews begged the young girl "I promise you won't be put in any danger"

Rosie paused for a moment before speaking again "Hansel and Gretel had an unspoken set of rules which meant they could live in harmony with the wicked witch but one day the wicked witch changed those rules and the whole world became unbalanced. She changed the rules and now it's all gone wrong" Rosie sobbed

Matthews and Nikki looked at each other with confused expressions on their face to this fairytale like story Rosie was telling them

"Rosie…" Matthews said slowly "Did the wicked witch hurt you?" he asked playing along with the story

"Hansel tried to protect Gretel; they were fine at first because they had a bond between them, the bond which no one else could ever break. They didn't need to have anyone else in the world all they needed was each other. But then one day a warlock came to the land and he did things that pleased the wicked witch but made Hansel and Gretel very scared"

"Did Hansel and Gretel want to run away?" Nikki asked playing along as well

Rosie nodded

"Gretel did but Hansel told her they should stay and as long as they had each other then it would all be okay"

"But something happened didn't it Rosie?"

Rosie nodded again "She changed the rules" she said solemnly

"Who did?"

"I can't say!" Fear had entered Rosie's voice and she was becoming distressed

"It's okay" Nikki soothed

"Rosie" Matthews said leaning forwards in his chair "Did the wicked witch or warlock ever hurt Hansel or Gretel? Did they take them away and hurt them?"

Rosie's eyes were wide with fear now and she was beginning to hyperventilate. Her face was covered with a sheen of sweat and she was quivering with fright. As Nikki glanced across at the monitors Rosie was hooked up to, she saw the young girl's heartbeat was rising at an alarming rate. Rosie gagged and her body convulsed, Nikki recognised the signs and pushed a cardboard dish under the young girl's mouth just in time to see her vomit up a mixture of sick and blood. Nikki glanced across at Matthews, concerned at what had brought on this sudden panic. He nodded towards the door and Nikki glanced round just in time to see Mr and Mrs North close the door that had been open a crack.


	9. Chapter 9

The pathologists and Detective Matthews were gathered at the lab consolidating what they had on the case so far. Nikki and Matthews had relayed the details of what had happened at the hospital but they seemed no further in understanding what happened to the North children

"Do you think the fairytale she told you was some sort of code?" Harry asked Matthews who just shrugged

"Goodness knows, she's got a heads injury the doctors are worried about so it could be a repercussion of that and she's dosed up to her eyeballs on medication"

Leo nodded in thought "Not to mention the torture she faced. Traumatic experiences have an unusual effect on the body both physically and mentally. Her mind might be trying to protect her from facing up to it. The fairytale she told you might be her mind trying to cope with the trauma; mixing fact with fiction might be the only way she is able to deal with things instead of facing up to the harsh reality"

"It still gets us no further" Matthews said grimly

Nikki sighed "When she was speaking to us, I felt we were getting somewhere. Then she saw her parents and launched into a full blown panic attack…"

"That was unsettling" The detective agreed "The only way we can really get the truth out of her is for her to undergo a formal interview but there is no way she's up for that, she's far too weak"

"How do the doctor's think she's doing?" Harry asked looking concerned

"She's still on the high dependency unit. Although she's conscious her body has undergone major trauma, physically she's very weak and mentally, well I dread to think"

"That poor child" Leo said sadly and as he looked across at his colleagues he knew they were thinking the same thing

* * *

Rosie groggily opened her eyes after coming round from the latest does of medication. As she glanced around the room she froze in shock as she saw the person sitting in the room next to her bed.

"Shh!" a finger was held to her lips and Rosie fought the urge not to throw up "I told you I'd always be here"

"Get out" Rosie tried to yell, but she was too weak and her voice came out as a mere squeak

"I'm always watching over you my pretty; I'm your guardian angel"

"You're an angel of darkness" Rosie said trying to move away from the form

There was a low, sickening laugh which made Rosie's blood run cold

"A tigress" the voice chuckled "But Rosie you're so weak, you need to rest, I'll always be here to look after you. You'll never get rid of me now. No big brother to protect you, it's just me and you now forever"

"No!" Rosie tried to yell again but as she twisted away from the form she felt a searing pain shoot through her body "I'm not going to let you get away with this, not any more. Too long I've played your twisted little games and I put up with that. But you've changed the rules and now I'm not going to be your pawn any longer"

"Ah!, the tigress is back" the voice snickered

"I will not my brother's death be in vain" she winced as the stitches in her abdomen pulled again

"He was not your brother" the voice hissed "He was my son"

"You never treated him like one" Rosie hissed back, her body screaming with protest every time she made a movement

Suddenly Rosie saw the person dart forward and as they moved towards the bed they stretched out their hands. She felt a searing pain rip through her and saw the person was pressing down on her stomach wound

"I put that there for a reason" the voice hissed "Remember you will die, for once in your life listen to what I have to say"

"No" Rosie spat "I am not playing your games anymore. This time I am in charge and we're going to be playing by my rule book"

"Oh really?" the voice challenged "You've thrown down the gauntlet my pretty. My son tried to challenge me and look what happened to him…"

"I'm not scared of you" Rosie said through gritted teeth

"Well you should be" The voice snapped "You should be fearing for your life"

"I'm not going to let you win. I will not let his death be in vain"

"How can you say that when you were part fo the reason he is dead" the voice snarled

Rosie blinked back the fast approaching tears "I'm not listening to you; I'm not scared of you. I will tell everyone the truth and you will pay for what you have done" she said her voice quivering with emotion

She felt the pressure increase on her stomach and she screamed out in pain.

"Think again" the voice spat and the last thing Rosie saw was a pair of cold dark eyes staring down at her. There was no remorse just a cold, dead look in them. The pain got too much for Rosie and she felt herself slip into a dark slumber.

"What have you done?" a new voice entered the room

"I did what I had to do. She's going to tell the truth, for once in her life"

"You changed the rules. This is not going according to plan"

"She pushed me to it, I am not going to let her get away with it. She killed our son"

"And she will pay. But we have to stick to the plan"

"I want revenge, I want her to suffer every ounce of pain that she has put us through"

"And she will but we have to get her out of the public view first"

"She will pay!" the voice screamed

"She will" the second voice agreed

"When?"

"Soon" the voice answered "Margret, I promise you, so very soon"


	10. Chapter 10

Detective Matthews was waiting anxiously in the hospital corridor waiting for some news. He'd received a phone call not long ago that Rosie North had been rushed back into theatre after complications. The doctors were not sure how these developments could have arisen as she'd been fine and making good progress that morning. Matthews one the other hand was more suspicious and was watching the North parents, who stood huddled on the other side of the corridor, carefully.

"Do you know what happened?" Matthews asked the parents

"No" Mr North replied "She was fine when we left her…"

"…You were here this morning?" The detective cut in

Mr North tensed suddenly "Yes of course, I wanted to see how my daughter was doing"

"I see" the Detective nodded slowly "It's just that you haven't been around for Rosie for a while, the doctors and nurses were getting worried. But the other day, I could have sworn I saw you outside her door…" He let his sentence trail off and he could see he had touched a nerve

However before he had time to probe them further, one of the doctors walked up to the group running a hand through his hair as he removed the surgical head covering

"Rosie's out of surgery now, we've stabilised the bleeding and we're certain no permanent damage was caused"

"Thank goodness doctor" Mr North said with a smile on his face, Matthews studied his carefully and was sure that smile was more emphasised than necessary

"Can we see her?" Mr North asked

"Umm…" the doctor began and shifted his gaze towards the detective "She's asked to speak to Detective Matthews alone"

"I see" Mr North said sitting back down next to his wife who hadn't spoken or moved since Matthews had gotten to the hospital. She sat there with the same stoicism that Matthews was always made suspicious by

The detective followed the doctor down the corridor and as soon as they were out of earshot of the North parents, he turned to the doctor and asked "What went wrong?"

"You mean why did we have to rush her into surgery?" Matthews nodded "Well one of the nurses was doing routinely obs. on Rosie and when she came into the room she found Rosie unconscious and unresponsive. Her stomach wounds were bleeding profusely and the surgical incision had been reopened. We managed to stop the bleeding and luckily not too much damage was done but she lost an awful amount of blood and had to have several transfusions during surgery"

Matthews tried to steady himself as he took in what the doctor was telling him "Do you think someone did this too her?"

The doctor nodded "She couldn't have done this by herself, she was much too weak. There was also some finger tip bruising forming on her arms when we took her in, this time it was fresh"

"I see" the detective nodded making a note in his notepad

"I think she knows who did this to her" the doctor said glancing around like he didn't want anyone to overhear what he had to say "As soon as she started to come round from surgery she started to ask for you. We tried to persuade her to rest first but she was pretty insistent and was getting stressed. I don't need to tell you how dangerous that is in a condition like hers. The only way we could calm her down was to get you down here as soon as possible"

"I'm glad you did" Matthews nodded his thanks at the doctor as they entered a hospital room off the corridor

"She a bit groggy from the anaesthetic but she should be able to talk for a while." The doctor informed him and Matthews sighed as he looked across at the young girl.

She was lying in a bed plugged into to various different monitors; there were wires and tubes coming out of her left, right and centre. He could see the lumpy outline of fresh bandages pressing against the sheet covers. He also noticed there were fresh dressings for her arms and head wound. Rosie was hooked up to various drips, one was full of blood, the other full of morphine. She blearily glanced up at him as he walked over to the bed. She tried to push herself up but was immediately stopped by the doctor

"Rosie, you've just gone through major surgery, you're in no state to sit up" the doctor warned her and helped the young girl lay back down

"I want to tell you the truth" Rosie said sounding very groggy from the medication

"I'm listening" Matthews said sitting down on the chair next to the bed

"I'm sick of playing games" Rosie sighed and he could hear the exhaustion in her voice

"I know…" Matthews sympathised

"I don't want to be their pawn anymore. James died trying to protect me; I'm not going to let them hurt anyone else. They've changed the rules too many times but I'm in control now" Matthews could hear the sheer determination in the young girl's voice

"Who did this to you Rosie?" he asked gently "All I need is a name"

Rosie shook her head "It's not that simple" she wheezed and pressed the oxygen mask to her face "You can't jump in at the middle of a story because it won't make sense. All stories have a beginning and that's where you have to start. You have to start 'once upon a time…."


	11. Chapter 11

Nikki was met by a two officers standing outside Rosie's hospital room. Clearly Matthews was taking no chances in case someone came back to silence Rosie for good. Flashing her ID at the officers she was let into the room where the detective was sitting by the girl's bedside.

"She wanted the nice pathologist to by here" Matthews explained and Nikki couldn't help but smile at the girl

Rosie tried to smile back but it was obvious she was still weak from all that she had been through. She had wires sticking out of her body and a large proportion of her small frame was covered in bandages. Her face was drawn and pale but Nikki could see a look of determination in her eyes that still showed she had some strength left in her

"We're listening Rosie" Nikki told her "Whenever you want to start"

Rosie nodded and winced as she adjusted herself in the bed "Mum and me never got on" she said "I know I'm not the easiest person to get on with at the best of times but Mum really had it in for me, no matter what I did"

"What about Dad?" Matthews asked

Rosie frowned "Dad was always the peacekeeper. He used to calm mum down when she was hysterical"

"And who calmed you down?"

"James" the name was said with a smile at the memory of her deceased brother "He always knew the right thing to say. He understood me in a way that no one else could or ever will be able to"

Nikki gave Rosie an encouraging smile "Can you tell us about what happened the day you and James went missing?"

Rosie nodded and took a deep intake in breath "For years I'd been trying to work out what I'd done that made mum hate me so much. But that morning I'd woken up really early. At first I couldn't think what had stirred me from my sleep but then I could hear muffled shouts coming from Mum and Dad's room. I listened closer and from what I could work out Dad was shouting at her"

"What was he saying?" the detective asked

She frowned "He was telling her all these things about me that were untrue. He was telling her that I was out to get them. He told her that I was going to get James on my side and then tear this family apart. But it wasn't true" Rosie's voice turned into noisy sobs

"Of course not" Nikki soothed gripping the girl's hand

"What did you do then?"

"I waited until Dad went to work so I could get Mum on her own. I tried to tell her that Dad was just using her as his pawn and pitting us against each other. He was the one tearing the family apart, not me"

"What did she say to that?" Matthews asked

"She just started to scream and scream at me. James came into the room and I explained everything to him. He believed me at once, he could tell when I was lying and when I was telling the truth. I guess that's a twin thing…" she shrugged

"And then Dad came home?" Nikki asked and Rosie nodded

"I told him I knew what he was up to and I was not going to let him go on manipulating and emotionally abusing the family. But he just flipped, he grabbed me and held me against the wall"

"Has he ever done this to you before?" Nikki asked

Rosie nodded "But Mum always stepped in before it got too bad"

"But this time she didn't" Matthews said

"She changed the rules" Rosie said sadly "Finally I got free out of Dad's grip and I just ran out of the house"

"Where were you going?" Nikki asked

Rosie frowned "I don't know, I just had to get out of there. But James followed after me and caught up with me. He grabbed me and told me that we couldn't run away, we had no place to go and they'd find us. I just lost it and I hit him…"

"That would match the CCTV footage" Matthews said to Nikki quietly

"I didn't mean to" Rosie sobbed "And then I just ran again"

"Where did you go?"

"I don't know" Rosie replied "I can't remember that well. All I can remember is that James and I had been walking until it got dark out and then…then…" Rosie stuttered

"Take your time" Nikki soothed

"I felt a sharp pain flash through my skull" Rosie said and Nikki eyed the girl's bandaged head "I fell to the ground and I could hear James calling my name and then yelling at someone. I think I passed out because after that it was just darkness but I knew one thing for certain…"

"What's that?" Nikki and Matthews asked at the same time

Rosie North took a deep breath before saying the three words that sent a shiver of fear straight through Nikki

"He'd found us…"

**Author's note: I am so sorry I haven't updated this in what seems like an age. I got a bit stuck on the plot line and my muse up and left me. I will try and finish this story soon and I do sincerely apologise. **


	12. Chapter 12

When Harry walked into the lab later that evening he felt his heart sink as he watched Nikki sitting at the desk with her head in her hands sobbing quietly

"Nikki?" he called gently

The pathologist's head shot up and he could see that her brown eyes were tinged red from crying

"Hay fever" she told him huskily, hastily brushing away a few stray tears that had worked themselves loose

"It gets you at the worst possible times" he said sitting down next to her "What exactly brought on this bout?" Harry asked her

"Rosie North finally made her statement to the police" Nikki said after a pause

Harry gave a gentle sigh "I'm sorry Nikki"

"How could anyone do that to their child?" Nikki half shouted "Their own flesh and blood"

"How much did she remember?"

Nikki shuddered as she recalled Rosie's tale "Rosie remembered being knocked out by her father. The next thing she knew she'd woken up in an abandoned warehouse, her legs and arms were bound. James was there with her and the two of them were just sitting there in the pitch black for hours"

"How did she know James was with her if it was so dark?"

"She told me it was a twin thing" Nikki gave a weak smile "She didn't know how long they'd been sitting there for but eventually their parents came into the warehouse"

Harry bit his lip as he knew what was coming next

"Her father was screaming at her mother to take revenge on Rosie for ruining everything. He manipulated her into beating her daughter. Rosie remembered James screaming at their mother to stop but she wouldn't"

"Oh Nikki…." Harry soothed as the pathologist let out some noisy, angry sobs

"Somehow James managed to free himself from the ties and according to Rosie he pulled their mother off her. At that moment their Dad apparently just lost it, he grabbed James by the neck and dragged him out of the room, the mother followed wailing"

"That would explain the bruising" Harry commented

Nikki nodded "Rosie thinks she passed out after that because when she opened her eyes James was back in the room. She tried calling to him but he wouldn't make any response"

"He was dead" Harry said sadly

"Rosie saw his neck all twisted and broken" Nikki trembled "No one should have to see that. Their parents re-entered the room and the last thing Rosie remembered was her father coming towards them both telling her that 'he would make sure she understood the rules from now on. He was make sure she would never forget them"

"That would be where the brand comes in" Harry frowned "But why in Latin?"

"Rosie wasn't sure on that but she knew her father spoke it fluently"

"So he lied to Leo then?"

"I guess so" Nikki said wiping her eyes

"It'll be okay" Harry told Nikki

Nikki's deep brown eyes stared into his paler ones "Will it Harry?"

"Yes" Harry moved closer to Nikki as she relaxed into his hold "You'll make it so"

And the two of them knew that no words could ever express any of the emotion that their two hearts felt at that moment

* * *

The next day Nikki made her way back down to the hospital and into the room where Rosie was currently recovering

"Hi" Nikki said brightly as she walked into the room

Rosie managed a weak smile back

"I just wanted to see how you are"

"I'm bearing up" Rosie said and Nikki could see that she was already recovering well, there was more colour in her cheeks and her eyes had a bit more of a sparkle to them

"I heard they arrested your parents" Nikki said softly

Rosie nodded "Apparently Mum's not well, up here" she pointed to her heard

Nikki nodded "Your Dad was exploiting that"

"It doesn't make a difference" Rosie shrugged "She still didn't love me"

"You don't know that" Nikki said "A mother always has some degree of love for her daughter even if it's not that obvious"

"I doubt it" Rosie scowled "It doesn't matter I have James…" her eyes closed for a second as she realised her mistake "…have James"

"It okay to grieve" Nikki said quietly

"I already knew he was dead even before I opened my eyes" she said sadly

"I guess that's a twin thing" Nikki said and Rosie gave a small smile "But you can move on from this Rosie. I know you can, you can make your own rules now"

* * *

When Nikki got back to the lab later on Harry was just about leaving

"Did you get everything sorted?" he asked

Nikki nodded "She's got closure now"

"And you?" Harry said shrugging on his coat

"I think so too" Nikki smiled

"Good" Harry grinned "Now come for a drink"

Nikki followed him out of the lab with a coy smile on her face. She knew where this was leading and now a whole different set of rules applied to their relationship.

**Author's note: There finished! I'm sorry I took forever to finish this. Hope you enjoyed it.**


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